OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Baird,

We acknowledge receipt of your FOI request (as below), submitted to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the department).

To support the department in processing your request, can you please clarify:
- the relevant timeframe for which searches should be undertaken
- who you intend to refer to the as 'relevant minister'

We would be grateful if you could respond by 6 September 2021 where possible.

Kind regards,

DFAT FOI Team
Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section
Legal Division | Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
DFAT.GOV.AU | Twitter | Facebook | Flickr | YouTube

This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in your handling of the advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the advice if unsure about appropriate handling.

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL

FOI Reference: LEX4321

Dear Mr Baird

Thank you for your emails dated 1 and 2 September 2021 seeking access
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 to:

“any and all communication between Qantas, the department, and/or the
relevant minister (Minister for Trade and Tourism Dan Tehan or Minister
for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne) about the airline's plan to restart
international travel in December as outlined to the ASX on August 26.

The timeframe is from June 1 to September 1.”

This email sets out some information about how your request will be
processed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Scope of request:

Searches are now being undertaken in relevant areas of the Department for
documents relevant to your request.  If it emerges that the scope of your
request is unclear or is too large for processing, the Department will
contact you to discuss re-scoping the request.

Timeframe:

We received your request on 1 September 2021 and the 30-day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that
date. 

We would be grateful if you could please confirm whether you agree to an
extension of 30 days to process your request (under section 15AA of the
FOI Act). The department is currently complying with all lockdown
requirements consistent with instructions from the ACT Government. This
includes remote and split working arrangements. As such, the department is
experiencing delays to the conduct of searches and internal consultations
on FOI requests. I note that the business areas relevant to your request
continue to experience a high volume of work as a result of the COVID-19
pandemic. We will continue to process all FOI requests as efficiently as
possible. 

Should you agree to an extension, the department will notify the Office of
the Australian Information Commissioner.

Charges:

Please note that the Department may issue charges for processing FOI
requests.  We will advise you of any relevant charges when we are in a
position to estimate the resources required to process your request.

Disclosure log:

Please note that, with some exceptions (such as personal information),
documents released under the FOI Act may later be published on the
department’s disclosure log:
[1]https://www.dfat.gov.au/about-us/corpora...

Exclusion of officials’ names and contact details:

It is the Department’s policy to withhold the mobile numbers of all
government officials, and the names and contact details of government
officials not in the Senior Executive Service (SES) or equivalent. If you
require this information, please let us know at [2][DFAT request email];
otherwise we will take it that you agree to that information being
excluded from the scope of your request.

Personal Information:

If we need to consult with other people or organisations regarding your
FOI request, we may need to disclose your personal information (e.g. your
name).  When we consult it may be apparent that you have made a request,
even if we do not disclose your identity.  Please let us know if you have
any concerns in this regard.  The Department’s privacy policy is available
at dfat.gov.au/privacy.html.

Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact us by return email at [3][DFAT request email].

Regards

DFAT FOI Team

Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section
Legal Division | Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[4]DFAT.GOV.AU | [5]Twitter | [6]Facebook | [7]Flickr | [8]YouTube

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL

FOI Reference: LEX4321

Dear Mr Baird

As your FOI request covers documents which contain the information of
third parties, the department is required to consult prior to making a
decision on the release of documents. To allow the department and relevant
third parties time to undertake this consultation, the period for
processing your request has been extended by 30 days, as provided at
section 15(6) of the FOI Act. The statutory timeframe in this matter will
now expire on 30 Nov 2021.

While any comments received from relevant third parties will be
considered, the final determination about whether to grant you access to
documents within the scope of your request rests with the departmental
decision maker.

If you require any additional information, please do not hesitate to
contact us by email at [1][DFAT request email].

Regards

DFAT FOI Team

Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section
Legal Division | Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[2]DFAT.GOV.AU | [3]Twitter | [4]Facebook | [5]Flickr | [6]YouTube

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL

FOI Reference: LEX4321

Dear Mr Baird

Please find attached correspondence relating to your FOI request.

Regards

DFAT FOI Team

Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section
Legal Division | Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[1]DFAT.GOV.AU | [2]Twitter | [3]Facebook | [4]Flickr | [5]YouTube

References

Visible links
1. http://dfat.gov.au/pages/default.aspx
2. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
3. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
4. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
5. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...